Airbnb allows hosts to change cancellation policies on guests without them knowing! SHADY!

[Boyd26]

Just picked up on a SHADY scam by an Airbnb host and I am so disappointed that Airbnb knows about this scam, and is refusing to do the right thing.

I booked a place in South Africa for our trip with no reviews and just a few photos but felt OK about it because it had a free cancellation policy. You can see my booking email below. 

The house is under construction so the host said he didn't have real photos yet. A few weeks later, he asked if he could change my reservation by a few days because the home wouldn't be ready yet due to construction issues. I said OK and accepted. A few days later, I started to not feel great about the idea of flying to Cape Town with my family and baby and maybe not having a place to stay. 

After booking a new spot, I went to cancel this one and realized that somehow without me knowing, when he had changed the dates, he had also changed his cancellation policy to non-refundable. I was never presented with this updated information when I agreed to the new dates. It was simply not in the date change user interface. 

Airbnb says that in agreeing to the new dates, I agreed to his new policy and that I will have to work it out with the shady host who is clearly trying to scam me to get a refund. They say they are trying to "mediate" but in reality, shouldn't they just 100% honor the original cancellation policy at the time of booking, that thank god I have an email to prove? 

[sensitive information from image removed]

He asked me to update my dates, I accepted, and without me knowing, he altered the cancellation policy on the backend.
@Airbnb
is refusing to honor the original cancellation policy from when I booked! Watch out for this trick.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Boyd26 That is very naughty of the host and most unfair on you. Interestingly a host posted earlier today that they had been similarly scammed when a guest changed their dates so that the stay then fell within the free cancellation period whereupon they cancelled. It seems there are both unethical hosts and guests out there.

Just a thought - If the new cancellation policy was not shown to you when you changed the dates then I think you have a case for persuading Airbnb to allow you to cancel based on the original policy.

[Boyd26]

Ugh yea, I am now in the 14th hour of talking to Airbnb. Their customer service is robotic. 

[Inna22]

@Boyd26 do you have an update for us?

[Inna22 · Accepted solution]

@Boyd26 If the house is really under construction and this is scam and if you end up not getting a refund, you should attempt to check in. You are going to be in the same town anyway. I bet the host will not be able to do that and in that case will be forced to give you a refund. I know this is the last thing you want to be doing on vacation but this is a lot of money. Also, you can try dispute with your credit card. 

No matter what you do, do not cancel your stay yourself. This will take away any power you have including an ability to leave a review. 

[Gina2084]

Hi there,

so sorry to hear about this. I recommend reporting this to the “better business bureau”. Place a formal complaint and airbnb will absolutely contact you.

good luck my friend,

gina

[Helen3]

Why would you recommend this to someone not in the US @Gina2084 

[Gina2084]

Here is the better business bureau

**[Link removed - Community Center Guidelines ]

[Mar125]

wow. I’ve never known this. Thanks for sharing. 

Talk to the host and ask him to honor the original cancellation policy. Tell him since he didn’t advise you about the policy change, the alteration you accepted isn’t valid. Or, you can simply ask him to give you a partial refund and you cancel voluntarily..